Gun control now

Blue Mountains Courier-Herald

Come at me, and us, all you want. We love our children more than you love your guns. This fight is over. Gun control now. -Chris Jones via Twitter on the day of the Newtown school shooting that killed 20 children under the age of eight.

It's not a debate anymore. The time for a "national conversation" is over.
You control and maintain standards for cars, food, buildings, and toys. Why not control weapons?
America, your babies are dying because you can't get your priorities straight.
There are those who say it's not the time to talk about gun control, that we should be grieving instead.
Obama's own administration said in a statement that the time would come later for "usual Washington policy debates."
Usual.
That word in this context is awful, but only because it's true.
Children aged 5 to 14 are 13 times more likely to be killed by guns in America than in other industrialized nations. Eighty-seven per cent of all children killed by guns in the world's 23 richest countries are American children.
Mass murders will always be shocking. But they are no longer a surprise in America. Now they are usual, and followed by all the usual debates, speeches and conversations.
This cycle must end, and it must be stopped now.
It's not about "getting political."
After a mass shooting such as this one in Newtown, it is appropriate to have conversations about gun control. And you can do it while you are still hurting.
We can feel many things, and we can react in more than one way.
We can be angry and grief-stricken at the same time. We can plan memorial services while still coming up with ways to stop this madness.
Obama and the other leaders need to forget well-meaning, eloquent speeches. Time to take action, no matter the costs, and protect America's children. Time to lead, even if this is the president's final act. America's priority must be the safety of her children.
Right now, hand guns and assault rifles as a "right" for all Americans is a more deadly truth than the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. It's sick joke that an American like the one who killed the kindergarten class has the "right" to own numerous military assault weapons with 30 round clips; essentially a device designed for mass killing. Why would any ordinary citizen need these weapons?
More than 100,000 people are killed or wounded by guns each year. In just six months, more Americans are killed by their own guns than were ever killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and every terrorist attack combined in the last 25 years.
Stir up your courage America, and end this senseless death. Do not continue to let your children die for your political cowardice.